Town Moderator Adam Dash is creating a Moderator Advisory Council (MAC) which will meet periodically during the year to advise and assist the moderator on various tasks pertaining to the community.
According to Dash, the MAC will consist of one member of Town Meeting from each precinct who will serve a one year term. Each precinct will hold a meeting and appoint a representative. On Monday, Dash announced the eight precinct representatives that had been chosen.
Dash thinks that having a smaller, more focused group will be beneficial for accomplishing Town Meeting and community projects.
One of the most urgent tasks for the MAC includes developing questions for candidates who seek to be appointed to moderator-appointed committees, Dash said. These include the Warrant Committee, Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee, Bylaw Review Committee and the Permanent Building Advisory Committee.
These are not the only moderator-appointed committees; they are just the ones they are focusing on right now, said Dash.
According to Dash, the creation of the MAC stems in part from a previous group called the Moderator Advisory Committee, created by former Town Moderator Michael Crowley.
When Dash interviewed members of the committee, they told him they felt that the committee members’ “expectations, roles and deliverables were not terribly clear,” Dash said.
“The general germ of the idea is a good one,” Dash said of the former committee, “but it’s the implementation that I was taking issue with.”
For example, Dash said that there was no official charge for the committee, and that some members were unsure how long their term would last.
Town Meeting member Joan Drevins of Precinct 7 has been appointed to the MAC. She enjoyed being on the Moderator Advisory Committee and making Town Meeting more efficient and effective, she said.
“With Adam Dash as the new moderator, I think he’s kind of made some of the expectations a little clearer … the first year of many committees sometimes is a learning curve for everybody … so I think [Dash’s] new charge has made things clearer,” Drevins told The Voice.
Precinct 1 Town Meeting member Adriana Poole was also on the Moderator Advisory Committee. Poole said she decided to join the MAC because she had “unfinished business” in her role, and wanted to continue the work that she started on the committee.
“I think this time it will be done the right way. I think our input will matter,” Poole said about the MAC.
Achieving Transparency
Dash decided transparency was critical to the success of the MAC, which begins with the charge he made detailing the expectations of council members, including specific purposes and objectives of the committee, as well as term length.
He is also working to make the process of appointing committee members more visible by interviewing candidates for moderator appointed committees on Belmont Media.
“The old way of … the moderator talking with individuals in private and then announcing them as appointed to committees is not the most transparent way of going about things,” Dash said.
He will ask all applicants for committees the same questions, which will be generated with input from MAC members. After the interviews, he will wait to make appointments, allowing time for Town Meeting members and the general public to express their thoughts.
“That way, the entire interview process is out in the open and everyone can see and weigh in,” he said.
Council Goals
Dash has other plans for the MAC, too. One is to create an educational video library that will house resources on a variety of town topics.
He also wants to start a model Town Meeting for students to learn about local government. He said this will “show [students] how democracy in its most fundamental form operates in town.”
Both Drevins and Dash mentioned the MAC could host some social events for Town Meeting members. Drevins noted that ever since Town Meeting became hybrid (held in person and on Zoom), she has missed out a little on the socialization aspect.
Dash said the MAC could also assist with mentoring new Town Meeting members and possibly have someone from their precinct sit with them at Town Meeting.
While there are many plans, “the main [goal] is going to be developing questions to ask the candidates because that’s a time sensitive issue that has to happen right away,” Dash said.
Getting these plans in motion would be a marker of success for the council, said Dash.
In the meantime, he encourages people to apply for one of the many committees in town to get involved. The volunteer portal is on the town website and applications are open now.
“We really need the people to serve because this town runs on volunteers,” he said.
The first meeting of the Moderator Advisory Council will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 4 at 7pm on Zoom. The complete list of Council members can be accessed on the town website.
Email Adam Dash at moderator@belmont-ma.gov with any questions about joining a town committee.
